'Educate Public On Plan'

Aug. 21, 2015, 10:05 a.m.

By Daniel Kenu, Kumasi

Participants in a two-day discourse on the newly launched 40-year development plan have asked the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to partner the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate the public on the plan.

They said such an engagement would ensure that the views of a cross-section of the public were incorporated into the plan to make it a truly national doument owned by Ghanaians.

The two-day discouurse was attended by a cross-section of Ghanaians, including representatives of political parties and students.

They suggested that a legal framework be worked out to make the document, which is yet to be fine-tuned, binding on successive governments to ensure the development of the country on a sustainable basis by 2057.

In principle, although each participatory group appeared to have bought into the plan,the NDPC will be burdened with trying to satisfy the needs of a large number of them, especially the students, who wished to see systematic and deliberate programmes of making at least 80 per cent of Ghanaians literate by the end of 2057.

Ms. Eva Lokko of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), for instance, suggested that within the long term-plan, it should be possible for the plan to have short and medium-term plans to deal with specific issues and development challenges, while making it dynamic for review from time to time.

Reviews

The Director General of NDPC, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, allayed the fears of participants when he said the document captured short to medium-term plans, subject to review every 10 years by Parliament.

However, key to achieving the set goals, according to him, was how to address some six key factors, including attitudinal change, human capital information and science and technology.

Citing a number of examples from other parts of the world, including Singapore and Malaysia, Dr Thompson said things could worsen for the country, especially by 2040 when the population was estimated to increase to 46 million.

He said the current power crisis and other economic challenges were as a result of lack of planning and anticipation by successive governments.

The implementation of the document, code-named:"Black Star Rising", is expected to take off from 2018 to 2057.

Source: Daily Graphic (Regional)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this news report do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC)